Actionbound was created as tool to digitise the classic scavenger hunt and make it more intuitive. The fact that you can do this easily with our software is probably well known, but it's not the only thing you can put together with our software. Have you ever tried to develop Bounds that can be played from anywhere? No matter if sofa or forest, city or country. Here we provide you with a few simple tips and tricks on how you can create a location-independent Bound.
The classic Escape Game
Yes, it's true. Actionbound can also be used to create Escape Games. You don't need GPS coordinates for this. Important: Make notes at the beginning. What is it all about and what should happen in the individual sections? Where should the players "puzzle" their way out of? Does the Bound only work for one person, or does it need a team? Our Stages help you to structure your location-independent Bound. In each Stage, the players could, for example, puzzle their way through rooms or question fictitious people. For example, one puzzle could be solved per Stage. Just try it out. It always makes sense to start with simple puzzles and then increase the difficulty as the game progresses. Another tip for Actionbound pros: If you build Switches into your Escape Game, you can develop different paths. In any case, you should test, test, test beforehand.
A quiz to test one's knowledge
The quiz format is often used in education. You can create simple quizzes with Actionbound. The format is very suitable, for example, to check homework or to introduce a new topic. Tip: Too simple quiz questions will quickly bore your players and make the game experience monotonous. Try to pimp your Bound with creative questions and use photos and audio recordings to convey your content. Your quiz Bound should last no longer than 20 minutes in total to keep the game fun.
One Bound - different locations
Would you like to use Actionbound to bring places to life for players, even if they can't visit and discover them on site? Simply create a Bound that can be played from anywhere. Stages will help you structuring your Bound. Create a fictional character, for example a guide, who accompanies the players from place to place. Level up your Bound by adding different media like audio recordings. Use quiz questions to test your players' knowledge. Actionbound tip: Let your fictional character interact with your players. Questions like "Where are you right now?", "What does your environment look like?", "What places do you like to visit?" make your Bound more lively and you will get many different reactions, no matter where the Bound is played. Just give it a try.
Have you ever created a location-independent Bound? Can you still play it? We are always happy to receive links on our social networks.
There are new features to try out again! Change the Bound language while playing directly in the app, have your texts translated in the Bound Creator or end a Bound after the playing time has expired.
Since last year, it has been possible to offer a Bound in multiple languages with the premium feature
"Multilingual Bounds". Now we have added even more functions to the feature.
In the app, players could previously only choose one of the translations stored in the Bound settings when starting the Bound.
Now changing is also possible while playing the Bound!
This is how it works: Use the menu in the app to select a language from the translations stored for a bound. And you can continue playing in Spanish, for example.
Tip: As a creator you not only have the possibility to use known languages, it is also possible to create a fantasy language or to store your texts in different language levels or Special English.
Also new: Thanks to our DeepL extension you can add translations of your texts with one click.
This is how it works: Add a translation to your Bound in the settings. Click on the translate icon in the upper right corner of the translation tool and be patient for a moment
The translated texts will be inserted directly into the individual fields (or elements). You will also find your media and formatting, such as paragraphs and Markdown commands, in the translation.
Note: Make sure that the media you use, such as images or videos, are understandable to players of any language. Both the license information and any images or language in videos should be provided to your players in the language of their choice. If you want to include a medium in another language, it is best to include it in the Bound Creator so that you can first cut it out of the primary language in the translation tool and then paste it into the translation at the desired location.
You made minor adjustments in the primary language? THose concerned elements are marked with an exclamation mark (!). Adjust the translation, by clicking on the translation icon to the right of those concerned elements.
Data protection notice: The data sent to DeepL is processed on German servers and deleted directly after translation at the provider.
You can find the currently available languages of DeepL
here.
Timing is everything - Limit the playing time of your Bounds
We recommend that you give your players an indication of how long a round of your bound will take. In the Bound settings under playing time you enter the corresponding time (in minutes).
Now select one of the two modes. Playing time as a recommendation gives your players orientation without further consequences, as before. Playing time ends Bound, on the other hand, imposes a time limit on the entire Bound. After the time limit has expired, players can still complete the current element, after which the Bound is ended and the ranking is displayed.
This way you can give your players an extra motivation boost or increase the fun of the game with a little bit of pressure. You decide!
Note: The playing time is a licensed feature. Check out our new feature overview here.
It is still possible to add a time limit to quiz elements.
If you are interested in the features, please contact our sales team at sales@actionbound.de.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a Bound available in different languages without having several QR codes? Imagine creating a Bound in the Creator and then be asked for the language when starting the Bound in the app. Fortunately, this dream has now come true.
It's finally here, our new premium feature: the translation tool!
It has never been easier to edit and offer a Bound translated in different languages. Find out how it works here:
Our translation feature can be booked for a fee on request. If you are interested, simply contact our sales team. Once booked, you will find the premium feature on your Bound dashboard in the Settings section.
Your translation feature will appear directly under the estimated Bound duration. Select a primary language and add as many translations as you like.
For example: You create a Bound in your usual language – let's say English – and want to offer it e.g. in Spanish as well. So your primary language would be English and you add another language. Simply select Spanish as desired language and click on Add. At the moment, you can choose from 21 languages in total.
After adding the translation the tool will open. On the left side you will see all your Bound elements in your chosen primary language. On the right-hand side, you can enter the translated texts of your elements and copy your media, if available.
When a field is filled in, the small red exclamation mark in the top right-hand corner disappears, the element is now translated and the translation is saved. If you want, you can also download all the elements in your primary language as an Excel list, translate them there and then simply upload them again. Two possibilities lead to the same result. Your media appears in square brackets, just like in the Bound Creator.
Another very convenient feature is that the Bound translations adapt to the app language (only available for default languages). For example, if the app language is set to Spanish and a Bound with a translation in Spanish is selected, it automatically suggests the Spanish version. You can also change the language again at this point. Nice!
Even more possibilities: Create several versions of your Bound at different levels of difficulty. Your primary language would be Easy and your additional languages would be Medium and Hard. At the beginning of the Bound, your players can choose which level they want to play.
You want to offer your Bound in a language that is not available? No problem! You can also easily add a new language. So, how about a Bound in Elvish?
Do you have any questions about the translation feature and/or would you like to try it out? Just contact our sales team at sales@actionbound.com or call +49-30-12083317.
We now offer two new ways for you to use uploaded media more individually: an image editing feature and a native audio player.
Editing images
Do you want your images to be larger or smaller? Or maybe not left aligned? All this and much more can now be done easily with our improved settings.
Simply insert your desired image from your media library into the Creator.
Now just click on the cog in the Bound preview and you have a whole range of new possibilities at your disposal.
Choose section:
If you only want a certain section of your image to appear in the element, you can easily select your image section here.
Replace:
If you click on Replace you will end up in your media library. This makes exchanging pictures even easier.
Width:
Choose how wide you want your image to be. Simply drag the slider from left to right and the width of your image will change accordingly.
Alignment:
Choose between four options where you would like to place your picture should in the element. Do you want it to be the centerpiece or should it be on the right side?
Text flow:
Do you want your text to scroll next to your image? Then activate this option.
Zoom:
Do you know the little magnifying glass in the pictures? It appears on the image once you see the item in the app. If you don't want the magnifying glass to appear, you can easily hide it here. You need a license to use this feature.
Native audio player
Until now, inserted audio files appeared only as a simple play button in the app. In addition, the file broke off when the standby mode of the device was (involuntarily) activated.
Our new native audio player gives licensed creators and their players more options. A cog appears to the right of your file in the Bound preview. By clicking this icon, you can switch on the native audio player.
Important: You must switch on the native audio player individually for each inserted audio file!
The audio file will now appear in a new design for your players and contain more possibilities:
no cancelling playback in standby mode
pausing, resuming and browsing through the file are now possible
the playback speed can be adjusted (Creator & App)
The bottom line is: more comfort for everyone!
Plus a little gimmick for audio puzzles when the playback speed has to be adjusted first to understand everything.
Check out our Step by Step guide if you like to know how things work in detail. Have fun experimenting with the new features!
We are happy to announce that we have a new answer mode for the quiz in the Bound Creator: the Cloze!
Again and again we receive messages from the community with wishes and suggestions for Actionbound . We are happy to announce that another new feature has made it into the Creator!
From now on you can ask cloze quiz questions. The feature can be found in the "Quiz" element under the different answer modes. You can create as many gaps as you want. Also here you can give partial points for not completely correctly solved questions via "Locker score".
How to create your cloze task:
In your Bound Creator you will find the cloze in the Quiz element at the very bottom when you select the answer mode.
You can easily mark your gaps in your text element with curly brackets. Be careful not to put a space after the brackets, otherwise this will be part of the correct answer.
Tip: For long texts, you can specify the missing words in the task.
Have fun trying it out and we are looking forward to your feedback!
Send us your cloze tasks via Instagram or Facebook! We are always happy about links.
We just released a new feature which allows you to combine two or more Bounds into one new Bound.
The feature merge Bounds allowes you to copy the content of your existing Bounds into a new one.
The following video shows you how simple it is to merge two Bounds.
Merge your Bounds
The merge function is part of our license feature set. If you want to unlock this feature for your Bounds, check here for a suitable license. If you can't find the right product for you, feel free to contact Benedikt Heiß.
Here are two tutorials from the University of Brighton, which were originally posted on their Blog at "Scavenger Hunts – Actionbound vs Paper". They are a quick guide how to start with creating your first Bound.
